G8 focus on economy and security

The G8 recent summit indicated that Russia and the West are ready to collaborate to resolve global problems. Source: Reuters

A G8 meeting, at which Russia was represented by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, was held in an informal setting at the US President’s Camp David residence, away from the city hustle and bustle.

To lend the latest G8 summit an informal nature, its host, U.S.
President Barack Obama, decided not to meet his guests in his hometown of
Chicago, but rather to bring them to the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland
known as Camp David.

Not all the participants adapted to the casual setting; French
President Francois Hollande, making his G8 was his debut, wore a tie during the
working lunch.

Russia was represented by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev,
standing in for President Vladimir Putin, who bowed out citing responsibilities
forming a new government.

Security Issues

The G8 meeting began with a working lunch on Friday that focused
on global security, in particular the situation in Syria and Iran’s nuclear
program. After the discussion, the U.S. hastened to announce that there was a
broad consensus among the G8 leaders on both issues. “The Russians largely
stand with us in the negotiations. We have strong unity on this matter, and not
only with Russia,” U.S. media cited a high-ranking official as saying. On
Syria, the press claimed that the Medvedev agreed that there should be a
political process in the country that would meet the needs of the Syrian people.

Russian special envoy to Africa Mikhail Margelov confirmed that
the G8 has a common position on Iran: “Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear
bomb,” Margelov said. The question is how to prevent Tehran from becoming a
member of the nuclear club. “There are no differences over Iran, unlike with
the Syrian issue,” Margelov said. The approaches still differ, but Russia’s
position remains unchanged. There can be no violent regime change in Syria, and
the Syrians should sort out their internal affairs themselves. “You cannot use
an axe to hack your way through the Syrian crisis, you have to use a pair of
pincers to somehow sort it out,” said the envoy.

Opening the first plenary session on Saturday, Obama summed up
the results of the previous day. He said the G8 was not challenging Iran’s
right to develop a peaceful nuclear program, but was against Tehran acquiring
nuclear weapons. “All of us are firmly committed to continuing with the
approach of sanctions and pressure in combination with diplomatic discussions,”
Obama told reporters. “And our hope is that we can resolve this issue in a
peaceful fashion that respects Iran’s sovereignty and its rights in the
international community, but also recognizes its responsibilities.”

For Syria, peaceful settlement was declared the preferred
option. The G8 supports the plan proposed by UN special representative Kofi
Annan, Obama said. North Korea also got its share of attention. The G8 leaders,
the U.S. President said, recognized that the country was violating its international
nuclear security obligations.

The Global Economy

On the second day of the summit, the G8 leaders turned to the
global economy, which is still showing symptoms of crisis. It had been a long
time since the G8 devoted close attention to the topic, leaving it in recent
years to the G20. The return of economic issues to the G8 agenda does not mean
that it has lost trust in the G20, however, according to the Russian prime
minister.

“The G20 remains the main economic format,” Medvedev told
Russian journalists. “The issue is that the situation in the Eurozone has taken
a turn for the worse and this has influenced the course of today’s discussion.”

Presidential economic adviser Arkady Dvorkovich expanded on
these sentiments. “Greece’s withdrawal from the Euro Zone is a bad scenario.
Greece should remain in the Euro Zone while pursuing a responsible policy,”
Dvorkovich told journalists, commenting on the outcome of the plenary session
on economics. “Greece must meet the obligations it has assumed.”

In a statement on the global economy, the G8 reaffirmed the
importance of a strong Eurozone for global stability and recovery and supported
the Eurozone leaders’ resolve to address the strains in a credible and timely
manner, and in a manner that fosters confidence, stability and growth. “We
commit to fiscal responsibility and, in this context, we support sound and
sustainable fiscal consolidation policies that take into account countries’
evolving economic conditions,” read a statement issued by the G8 leaders.

The statement further demonstrated the support of the G8 for
structural reforms, investments in education and modern infrastructure in order
to boost productivity and growth in their economies. “We underscore the
importance of open markets and a fair, strong, rules-based trading
system,” the statement reads in part. “We will honor our commitment to refrain
from protectionist measures, protect investments and pursue bilateral, plurilateral,
and multilateral efforts, consistent with and supportive of the WTO framework,
to reduce barriers to trade and investment and maintain open markets. We call
on the broader international community to do likewise.”

The G8 did not discuss concrete financial assistance to troubled
European countries. This will be the subject of discussion at the G20 summit in
Mexico. Dvorkovich recalled that Russia, as before, intended to channel its
assistance through the International Monetary Fund. However, Moscow did send a
signal to Europe. “The prime minister said we are not going to reduce the share
of the Euro in our reserves, lest we send wrong signals on the situation in
Europe,” said Russia’s G20 sherpa, Stanislav Voskresensky.

Unlike specific measures with regard to Greece, the G8 easily
agreed on how to help Arab countries in the wake of the revolutionary changes
there. In addition to various bilateral and multilateral financial support
initiatives, they agreed to establish a fund to work with the regional partners,
the World Bank and regional institutions such as the Islamic Development Bank,
to create an initial fund with a capitalization of $250 million, the White
House announced.

Finally, on the foreign policy agenda, the discussion turned to
Afghanistan. The world’s leading democracies confirmed that they will not leave
Afghanistan without support. The G8 leaders declared their intention to take
measures to relieve economic pressures during the transition period and support
Afghanistan’s economic development by raising its fiscal revenue potential and
improving the expenditure management system.

One for two

The fact that Dmitry Medvedev filled in for Vladimir Putin at
the summit did not affect bilateral contacts with the leaders of other
countries. Medvedev’s one-on-one talk with Obama took place in keeping with the
informal spirit of Camp David – on a bench, without ties and jackets. “We spoke
again about what has been accomplished in recent years,” Medvedev said, giving
his impressions of the talk. “I said that my presence here as the head of the
Russian delegation could be considered as a definite symbol of succession in
our foreign policies, succession in reset.” Medvedev’s presence at Camp David,
he stressed, means that he and Putin share a vision of Russia’s foreign policy.
Medvedev also passed on a letter from Putin to Obama, setting forth positions
in certain areas of Russia’s foreign policy and bilateral relations with the
United States.

Medvedev also met individually with many of the G8 leaders
during the two-day summit. With German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian
Prime Minister Mario Monti, the talks focused on the Eurozone. They discussed
not only Greece, but also other European countries that are experiencing
difficulties, including Spain.

The
Russian prime minister summed up the results of Camp David in a meeting with
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who took the opportunity to invite
Medvedev to the London Olympics this summer. The Russian prime minister took
note of the invitation, but chose not to reply just yet.